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Giannelli Imbula admits he left for a new chapter in his career on the advice an old friend.

Fellow former France youth international Gael Kakuta helped convince the midfielder to leave the fringes of the Stoke City squad to join Rayo Vallecano on a season-long loan. Those words helped chairman Raúl Martín Presa clinch a deal he claimed he had been working on for a long time.

Kakuta, an ex-Chelsea winger, had just joined newly-promoted Rayo himself, signing a four-year deal after leaving Hebei China Fortune.

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Now Imbula, who turns 26 today, will get to taste La Liga himself. He is tipped to make his debut at Huesca on Friday night (8pm), hoping to help his side recover from two defeats in their opening two games and get on the mark.

Giannelli Imbula is on a season-long loan from Stoke City to Rayo Vallecano.(Image: Rayo Vallecano)

"I did not know anyone from the Spanish League, it was Gael Kakuta who gave me advice and I hope that if he has told me to come and be happy I can do it in the best way possible. I had no references from other teams, just what Gael told me."

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Imbula has struggled to fit into a disciplined team structure since leaving Porto in 2015, arriving at Stoke via Porto in early 2016. He spent last year on loan at Toulouse and struggled to find a new suitor this summer.